1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating documents from one another, wherein the documents are removed from a storage container and are fed to a conveying track.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of documents must be separated during processing. For example, bank notes or other documents have to be separated from one another when they are processed in banks.
German Auslegesschrift No. 26 50 564 discloses an apparatus for separating documents in which the documents, for example, bank notes, are conducted between two rollers which rotate so that the surfaces which face one another move in opposite directions, wherein one of the rollers serves to transport a document in the conveying direction, while the second, countermoving roller serves to hold back any additional document which has been incorrectly fed toward the rollers. This known apparatus is based on the principle that the friction between the first conveying roller which is provided with an appropriate friction lining and the surface of the document is greater than the friction between the smooth surfaces of the documents.
In the known apparatus, between the two countermoving rollers an exactly defined distance must exist which corresponds to the thickness of a document. Accordingly, the gap between the rollers for the passage of the documents is exactly defined.
However, in processing documents there frequently occurs the problem of having to process documents having different thicknesses. For example, certain documents, such as checks or the like, are composed of only a single sheet of paper, while other types of documents are composed of three sheets of paper connected to one another through a perforated margin to form a single document. It is apparent that such documents composed of three sheets are much thicker than a simple check. The problem becomes even more difficult in the event that a document has been provided with a cover or jacket after it has been determined that the document is not legible. Since the cover surrounds the document, its thickness is even greater than that of the document composed of three sheets.
In the past, documents of different thicknesses had to be presorted and one type of document had to be processed at a time. An adjustment of the width of the gap between the rollers was required when different types of documents had to be processed.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for separating documents which is capable of processing documents having varying thicknesses without having to make adjustments in the apparatus during processing.